College of Engineering professor Dr. Qian receives $105,000 grant from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Dr. Qin Qian received $105,000 federal grant funding for industry and community resilience from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As part of a collaborative research with Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Arlington, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $105,000 to Dr. Qin Qian, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to lead LU’s research efforts to enhance the resiliency of energy and water supply infrastructures along the Texas Coast against catastrophic coastal flooding. The four-year project, part of the $500K proposal, aims to enhance a climate-informed risk assessment framework by appraising the cost efficacy of a broad set of adaptation options. Potential disruptions of energy producers by flooding will also be evaluated. 

Dr. Qian and her team will collect data related to infrastructural undertakings planned by regional drainage districts to evaluate the effectiveness of climate-informed flood assessment and determine flood impacts on energy and water infrastructure systems. "We will also gather critical information on oil and gas industry in the Southeast Texas region and offer advocacy and support for these industries,” said Qian; “and make recommendations on infrastructure plans to state and regional governments that will improve the well-being of underserved and disadvantaged communities.”

“What is special about this work is that there had not been an integrated assessment performed for guiding emergency response in an industrial metroplex region with the level of importance and diversity that we have in the Southeast Texas,” said Dr. Jerry Lin, Associate Provost for Research and Sponsored Programs.  Dr. Liv Haselbach, Director of the Center of Resiliency at Lamar University, supported this groundbreaking research: "The Center for Resiliency is pleased to contribute to this research through our outreach activities such as our SETx Flood Coordination Study network. The resilience of infrastructure is an essential component of our industries and the communities we serve." 

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, engages dedicated scientists for cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information at their time of need.

To learn more about the department of civil and environmental engineering, visit https://www.lamar.edu/engineering/civil/index.html